Moon Jae-in in Tashkent on second leg of Central Asian tour
By IAR DeskTrade and economy dominated the talks with agreements worth more than $12 billion signed
Photo: Embassy of Uzbekistan
At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in arrived in Uzbekistan on April 18.
He was received at the airport by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov. After the official welcoming ceremony, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in held negotiations in a contracted and extended formats.
President Mirziyoyev welcomed the distinguished guest in Uzbekistan and noted that this is an important and long-awaited visit. “South Korea is Uzbekistan’s reliable and priority partner. I warmly recall our meeting in 2017. The negotiations were held in a sincere and constructive atmosphere, a significant package of documents was signed. Your current visit will give a new impetus to development of interstate relations, “ Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
The President of the Republic of Korea expressed his gratitude for the invitation to Uzbekistan. Sayig “Uzbekistan is a country with ancient and rich history in the center of the Great Silk Road. Today, your country is entering a new era of its development. We see in Uzbekistan a partner that has an important place in the New North policy of South Korea, aimed at enhancing trade and investment ties. Today we intend to bring cooperation to the level of a special strategic partnership,”.
Prospects for development of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries were discussed at the meeting. Both leaders agreed on the issues of finding mutually beneficial areas of partnership, actively continuing the political dialogue, and consultations for regular comparing notes.
The parties agreed to strengthen strategic partnership for expanding bilateral cooperation and strengthening friendship between peoples of the two countries.
A positive assessment was given to the dynamics of trade and economic cooperation, areas in which opportunities for further expansion was noted. The need for improvement of the legal and institutional framework for this purpose, intensifying visits at various levels, and contacts between business communities was emphasized.
At the meeting, views were exchanged on current regional and international issues. It was noted that South Korea supports the practical efforts of Uzbekistan on strengthening the atmosphere of good-neighborliness in the region, mitigating the effects of the Aral tragedy, promoting the peace process in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan, in turn, supports the peace-loving policy of the Republic of Korea, aimed at strengthening the agreement on the Korean Peninsula.
A major area of focus of the negotiations in an extended format was the development of practical cooperation in trade and economics, investment, financial-technical, cultural-humanitarian and other fields.
Uzbekistan – South Korean cooperation is consistently developing in all areas. The most-favored nation regime functions between the two countries.
An important role in the development and implementation of mutually beneficial projects has been played by the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. On March 4 this year, Tashkent hosted its ninth meeting. Since 2018, the format of meetings of Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea on economic issues has been introduced.
Over the past two years, the trade turnover between the two countries exceeded 2.1 billion dollars, which became the highest figure in recent years. Around 660 enterprises are operating in Uzbekistan with participation of Korean investors, including 354 enterprises with 100% foreign capital.
The Korean side welcomed the ongoing reforms aimed at liberalizing the economy and improving the investment climate. This will serve to increase Korean investment in Uzbekistan, increase the number of high-value-added industries and enhance cooperation between the two countries in the field of technology.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan is interested in expanding cooperation in the energy, oil and gas, chemical, mining, transport and logistics spheres, implementation of promising projects in mechanical and electrical engineering, textile and food industry, infrastructure development.
Documents have been signed between governments and ministries regarding the promotion and mutual protection of investments, exploration of space for peaceful purposes, cooperation in science, technology and innovation, creation of Uzbekistan – Korea center for cooperation in health sector, and others. Agreements were signed on implementation of programs and projects in trade-economic, investment and financial-technical cooperation worth more than 12 billion USD.
Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Moon Jae-in signed a Joint Declaration on Special Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea.
At a media briefing, the Presidents expressed satisfaction with the results of the negotiations, which took place in a traditionally friendly atmosphere, in a spirit of openness and mutual understanding.
“Our negotiations have demonstrated that cooperation between Uzbekistan and South Korea in political, trade-economic, investment, cultural-humanitarian and other fields fully meets the long-term interests of our peoples, as well as similar positions on regional and international, security and stability issues,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The Joint Declaration on Special Strategic Partnership, signed today, testifies that relations between our countries have reached a completely new level.
“I express my deep respect to the President of Uzbekistan, a country to which the whole world’s attention is riveted today. Shavkat Mirziyoyev with his reforms in all areas – politics, economy, social life – leads Uzbekistan to a new era of development. Today we have assigned the status of a special strategic partnership to bilateral relations. We discussed the mechanisms for its implementation, new areas of cooperation development, reached promising agreements, “ said Moon Jae-in.
The President of the Republic of Korea expressed his country’s readiness to share best practices and promote personnel development.
President Moon Jae-in invited President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to visit South Korea at a convenient time for him.
